Generic framework for reality based game universe

ABSTRACT

Techniques to implement a fantasy game application in a computer environment include defining multiple roles within the fantasy game application. One or more rules may be defined for each of the roles wherein the rules govern how a role is scored within the fantasy game application. Real world event data relevant to one or more of the roles may be obtained. The rules and roles to which the real world event data applies based may be determined and applied accordingly. A performance score for the applicable roles based on the real world event data may then be calculated.

BACKGROUND

Fantasy sports and fantasy sports leagues are well known and becoming increasingly popular. Certain of these fantasy leagues are provided by fantasy sports applications hosted by servers, such as the servers in the World Wide Web that allow users to participate on-line. Generally, a fantasy sport or league is a simulation game where participants select active real-life players in various positions to form fantasy teams. A fantasy sports league consists of a plurality of fantasy sports teams and consequently a number of these participants. Each fantasy team in the fantasy league usually competes against all the other teams in the fantasy league (head to head style) in scheduled matchups or accumulates statistics in chosen categories throughout the season (rotisserie style or ranked style). Success of a particular fantasy team in the fantasy league is determined by the cumulative number of points obtained by each of the fantasy players corresponding to the performance of the real-life players during the real-life athletic competitions. The fantasy team with the best won-lost record compiled during a fantasy season by the participant's fantasy team determines the winner.

Fantasy game performance in this context is measured only on one level—a team level. Did your team outperform the other team. In real-life, however, a team is part of a larger organization. The organization may be part of a league that includes other organizations. For example, a major league baseball team (e.g., Philadelphia Phillies) is more than just the major league team. The entire organization includes the major league players, the ownership personnel, management personnel, talent evaluation personnel, business personnel, as well as relationships with multiple minor league teams all under the single umbrella of the organization. Thus, within the organization there are numerous roles that contribute to the success of the overall organization. Moreover, success for the organization may be achieved on a multiple of fronts. The most obvious indicator of success may be the performance of the major league team throughout the regular season and into the playoffs with the ultimate goal being to win the championship of the league. Many roles may contribute to the success of the major league team including the performance of the players, manager, scouts, general manager, and owner.

However, other roles within the organization may be measured on different metrics than the major league team's won-loss record. For instance, the amount of money the organization earns may be attributable to roles involving business personnel and may be measured using financial metrics such as gate receipts, licensing revenue, player contract negotiations, television/radio contract revenue, etc. The popularity of the organization may be attributable to roles within the marketing group and may be measured using awareness metrics such as television/radio ratings, Internet presence (e.g., web hits on team web page, web searches), articles written by media entities, etc.

Heretofore, the ability to partition the success of an organization in a fantasy league and to create multiple roles associated with that organization in a universal game framework has eluded implementation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a universal framework for a fantasy game system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a user computer device communicable with the fantasy game system.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a mobile user device communicable with the fantasy game system.

FIG. 4 illustrates some examples of real world event input data sources for use with the fantasy game system.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a universal framework for a fantasy baseball game system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6A illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for a fantasy baseball game league home web page.

FIG. 6B illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for selecting a role within a league.

FIG. 6C illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for selecting profile attributes for a role within a league.

FIG. 6D illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for selecting attributes of real world players for a player within a league.

FIG. 7A illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for a fantasy baseball game organization home web page.

FIG. 7B illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for selecting a role within an organization.

FIG. 7C illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for searching fantasy player profiles for a player role.

FIG. 7D illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for selecting a fantasy player based on real world attributes.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow.

FIG. 9 illustrates another embodiment of a logic flow.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of a computing architecture.

FIG. 11 illustrates an embodiment of a communications architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments are generally directed to fantasy game systems and methods of playing that provide participants with the ability to choose one or more roles within or related to an organization for fantasy game play. For example, techniques to implement a fantasy game application in a computer environment include defining multiple roles within the fantasy game application. One or more rules may be defined for each of the roles wherein the rules govern how a role is scored within the fantasy game application. Real world event data relevant to one or more of the roles may be obtained. The rules and roles to which the real world event data applies based may be determined and applied accordingly. A performance score for the applicable roles based on the real world event data may then be calculated

Most fantasy games are based on real events but may be limited in the role or outcome of the game which may be limited only to a performance metric based on a team score. That is, the participant assembles a team of players that compete against other similarly assembled teams in a league setting. A winner of the league may be declared upon completing a season of competition. A goal of the embodiments described herein may be to create a fantasy game league built to support reality based metrics that may be enclosed within a larger game universe that gives participants an opportunity to participate and interact with each other through a variety of different roles.

Game participants may be able to compete/interact in roles of their choosing—different roles requiring different levels of personal investment (time/money/resources) and presenting the participant with different metrics for success and/or ways of interacting with other participants. Participants often like to lead or join groups (e.g., teams, clans, tribes, guilds, companies/etc). Groupings may be random or based on real world relationships (e.g., family, friends, colleagues, classmates, teammates, social clubs, etc). Game marketing may be performed according to desirable and/or likely groups/participants.

A universal game framework may be well suited to achieve several goals. Different goals lend themselves to different business opportunities. For example, an entertainment universe may be based on the popularity of reality based games, television shows, movies, etc. A universal game framework may offer participants a much richer experience by allowing them to participate in a variety of roles (e.g., actor, agent, studio head, director) that they find most entertaining, as well as interact with fellow participants in many different ways (collaborate, compete, negotiate, brag, etc).

In another example, an education/training/research (ETR) game universe may be constructed and measured against real-world events. Participants may assume roles that simulate reality such that the ETR universe lends itself to educating its participants through role playing simulations. Schools could use an ETR game universe to prepare students for real world events, and provide a mechanism by which they can investigate and understand the factors that contribute to the unfolding of events in the real world. Similarly companies could use this application to train employees and/or research real time events in their industry.

Game participants may even be able to profit in the real world as a result of succeeding in the game universe under a particular role. For example, a participant that is successful as a stock broker in a financial oriented game universe may use that success as a marketing tool for real world investors. Similar successes in other roles associated with other game universes may also lead to real world profit.

Fantasy game universe management may be implemented in many different ways depending on the universe being represented, ease of real-world data import, target audience, rewards for success, etc. An ideal game implementation may vary. Some possibilities may include one or more of a custom online computer application, a portable computing device (such as smart phone, tablet pc, etc), a computer located at an appropriate venue (such as a classroom, casino, etc), a game developed for use on a gaming console system, and a board game/pencil and paper.

Regardless of its implementation, a universe configuration may be created. The universe configuration may be a collection of properties and behaviors that define the setting and framework of participation. This may include participant roles, rules of play, features enabled for game play, etc.

Registered users (e.g., participants) may be allowed to participate in one or more supported universe games. Participants may be asked to identify themselves and provide contact information as necessary to facilitate continued interaction with the game.

Data feed definitions containing real-world event derived metrics may be created to provide the data to drive game performance and events. Standard data-interchange formats such as XML, JSON, delimited text would be accepted. Internally derived game metrics may also be to provide data to drive game performance and events as well.

Game results may be available for consumption within the game interface, and also available as output from the system. Standard output formats such as HTML, RSS, JSON as well as output directly to popular media sites would be supported.

Data derived from real world events may be combined with player/participant actions and decisions to determine performance outcomes. The performance outcomes may then be made available as results to be consumed within the universe as well as outside of it on other platforms and personal interaction among participants. This interaction will greatly influence the future decisions and actions taken by the game participants.

To be implemented as a reality based game universe, the universe configuration defines roles and metrics. The roles must be clearly defined, have appeal to an appropriate number of participants and apply to the real world setting. Care must be taken to choose roles with sufficient opportunities to achieve and interact. The metrics represent sources of data derived from real world events. Ideally the data is compelling, objective, and imported in a timely fashion. In some cases the real world events could be generated from participant activity in the game universe, such as consumption statistics.

Some example universes may include sports leagues, financial markets, the music/radio industry, and the television industry. For sports leagues, the universe could be based on professional leagues or amateur leagues (e.g., college). Roles may include players, coaches, fans, scouts, journalists, etc. Metrics may include player and/or team statistics, revenue, prestige via fan affiliation, etc. For financial markets, the universe may be based on any or all of the major markets or subsets within the larger markets. The roles may include individual trader, personal investor, fund manager, etc. Metrics may include position values over time, amount of assets under management and/or accumulated personal wealth. For music/radio, the universe may be an entirely new band for distribution of audio content, or a single radio station. Some possible roles may include disc jockey, talk show host, news correspondent, listener, program director, musician, music critic, record label/agent/promoter, etc. Metrics may be based on the participant's ability to gather and promote desirable content, billboard chart ratings/sales/awards for participant selected artists/albums/songs, or it could be based on consumption of their original content. Amateur musicians, talk show hosts, correspondents could submit their original content and succeed based on its popularity. The marketing opportunities are excellent as a portal for promoting music and selling downloadable audio content. For television, the universe may involve video content that could be generated, aggregated, distributed, rated, promoted and sold within a virtual universe dedicated to visual media consumption. Roles may include programming director, talk show host, new correspondent, reporter, show producer, actor/actress, critic, viewer, etc. Participants may attempt to feature trends in real world programming represented through metrics such as Nielsen ratings, renewals, revenue, syndication, association awards, etc. The opportunity to support participant generated content and generate metrics based on consumption rates is possible as well. Targeted marketing, show promotion and/or the sale of original content are possible as well.

With general reference to notations and nomenclature used herein, the detailed descriptions which follow may be presented in terms of program procedures executed on a computer or network of computers. These procedural descriptions and representations are used by those skilled in the art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art.

A procedure is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. These operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical, magnetic or optical signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It proves convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to refer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms, numbers, or the like. It should be noted, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to those quantities.

Further, the manipulations performed are often referred to in terms, such as adding or comparing, which are commonly associated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No such capability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases, in any of the operations described herein which form part of one or more embodiments. Rather, the operations are machine operations. Useful machines for performing operations of various embodiments include general purpose digital computers or similar devices.

Various embodiments also relate to apparatus or systems for performing these operations. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the required purpose or it may comprise a general purpose computer as selectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer. The procedures presented herein are not inherently related to a particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purpose machines may be used with programs written in accordance with the teachings herein, or it may prove convenient to construct more specialized apparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structure for a variety of these machines will appear from the description given.

Reference is now made to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout. In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding thereof. It may be evident, however, that the novel embodiments can be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to facilitate a description thereof. The intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives consistent with the claimed subject matter.

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a universal framework for a fantasy game system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The fantasy game system 100 may include a fantasy game universe framework server 110 communicable with user computer devices 115 and/or user mobile computer devices 117 over a network 105 such as, for instance, the Internet. The fantasy game universe framework server 110 may host many components that comprise the fantasy game. A fantasy game web site 125 may serve as the portal or interface between users and the game. For example, a user may access the fantasy game web site 125 via a user computer device 115 or a user mobile computer device 117 over the network 105. Once access has been authorized, a user may interact with all aspects of the game. The fantasy game universe framework server 110 may also host a framework application 130 operative to receive data and instructions and output results. The framework application 130 may include a rules engine 135, a data metrics repository 140 and a performance calculator engine 145.

The rules engine 135 may include a set of rules to be applied to real world event input data 120 and internal data metrics. There may be multiple sets of rules. A different set of rules may be applied to different roles. For example, in a financial markets/investing game universe, one role may be that of a stock broker while another role may be that of an investor. The stock broker may be measured, at least partly, on commission earned from trades while the investor may be measured on changes in net worth. The rules for a stock broker may include factoring the number of trades made while the rules for the investor may not consider the number of trades but the results of those trades. Thus, the rules engine may maintain different sets of rules to be applied to different roles within the game universe.

The rules engine 135 may be operative to send the rules for a given role and the real world event data 120 and internal data metrics obtained from the data metrics repository 140 to a performance calculator engine 145. The performance calculator engine 145 may apply the rules to the data to obtain a quantifiable score or measurement indicative of a participant's performance in a specified role.

For example, the stock broker mentioned above may have closed 150 trades for a given period. The rules engine may assign a value (e.g., a commission) of $10 per trade. Thus, one component for the stock broker's performance may total $1500 based on the 150 trades. The $1500 may be scaled to obtain a performance score for this aspect of the stock broker role. Another measure of the stock broker's performance may be tied to the appreciation or depreciation of his/her client's portfolio that he/she is managing. For example, in the same period, the stock broker's clients may have seen their portfolios rise in value by 1.3%. The rules engine 135 may include a rule that causes the performance calculator engine 145 to determine the incremental increase of client portfolios for the given period based on the net value change. This value may be scaled to obtain another quantifiable measurement of performance. Once all the individual performance measurement values have been obtained from the performance calculator engine 145, an overall score may be obtained and ranked against other stock brokers within the game universe. The overall results 150 may be posted back to the fantasy game web site 125 to update current standings which may be viewed by all participants.

Based on the current (e.g., this month) and/or historical (e.g., year-to-date) rankings of stock brokers, investors in the game universe may opt to select a new stock broker to advise them on investments to make. The number of clients a stock broker has may also be a measurable performance characteristic in the rules engine 135. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a user computer device 115 communicable with the user interface for the fantasy game web site 125. The computer device 115 may take the form of a personal computer or a laptop computer. The embodiments are not limited to these examples, however. Specifically, the computer device 115 may include a web browser application 210 operative on a processor component 205. The web browser application 210 may access the fantasy game web server 110 and, in turn, the fantasy game web site 125 over the network 105. If a login procedure is required to access the fantasy game web site 125, the user may be asked to provide a username/password combination to gain access to the fantasy game web site 125. Once connected, the computer device 115 may interact with the fantasy game web site 125 to browse the various web pages associated with the fantasy game web site 125.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a mobile device 117 communicable with the fantasy game web site 125. The mobile device 117 may take the form of a smartphone or tablet computer. The embodiments are not limited to these examples, however. Specifically, the mobile device 117 may include a fantasy game league application 310 operative on a processor component 305. The fantasy game league application 310 may access the fantasy game web server 110 and, in turn, the fantasy game web site 125 over the network 105 using a wireless connection. If a login procedure is required to access the fantasy game web site 125, the user may be asked to provide a username/password combination to gain access to the fantasy game web site 125. Once connected, the mobile device 117 may interact with the fantasy game web site 125 to browse the various web pages associated with the fantasy game web site 125 just as a computer device 115.

FIG. 4 illustrates some examples of real world event input data sources 400 for use with the fantasy game system. A universal game framework like that described above is dependent on data to drive decisions and performance. The best sources of data come from real world events on which the fantasy game application may be modeled. Some of these sources of real world event data include, Internet media outlets 410, television media outlets 420, radio media outlets, 430, independent Internet web pages 440, printed publications 450, proprietary information sources 460, academic studies 470, and statistical databases 480. One or more of the above sources may overlap. For instance, a proprietary information source such as the Wall Street Journal on-line edition, may encompass elements of a media Internet web page 410, a printed publication 450, and statistical databases 480. The Wall Street Journal on-line edition may be a rich source of real world event data for a financial fantasy game that involves roles like broker, lender, trade, and investor.

Sports game fantasy leagues such as football and baseball, may derive real world event data from databases like the Elias Sports Bureau (ESB). The ESB is the official statistician for the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB). Data compiled by the ESB may be used as input for many fantasy sports game applications. For instance, ESB data may provide historical research when an organization within a fantasy sports league is contemplating drafting a player, signing a player in free agency, or trading a player.

The above examples are exemplary. There are many other examples of real world event data too numerous to describe here that could apply to many different fantasy game frameworks. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

FIG. 5 illustrates a block diagram of a universal framework for a fantasy baseball game system in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The fantasy baseball game system 500 may include a fantasy baseball game universe framework server 510 communicable with user computer devices 515 and/or user mobile computer devices 517 over a network 505 such as, for instance, the Internet. The fantasy game universe framework server 510 may host many components that comprise the fantasy baseball game. A fantasy game web site 525 may serve as the portal or interface between users and the game. For example, a user may access the fantasy game web site 525 via a user computer device 515 or a user mobile computer device 517 over the network 505. Once access has been authorized, a user may interact with all aspects of the baseball league/game. The fantasy game universe framework server 510 may also host a framework application 530 operative to receive data and instructions and output results. The framework application 530 may include a rules engine 535, a data metrics repository 540 and a performance calculator engine 545.

The rules engine 535 may include a set of rules to be applied to real world event input data 520 and internal data metrics. There may be multiple sets of rules. A different set of rules may be applied to different roles. For example, a fantasy baseball league may be comprised of multiple teams. Each team may be more broadly termed an organization. The organization may include multiple components acting in concert to promote the performance of the organization. There may be many roles within each organization that may be subject to individual performance evaluation based on real world event input data 520 and internal data metrics 540. Thus, the rules engine may maintain different sets of rules to be applied to different roles within the organization.

The rules engine 535 may be operative to send the rules for a given role and the real world event data 520 and internal data metrics obtained from the data metrics repository 540 to a performance calculator engine 545. The performance calculator engine 545 may apply the rules to the data to obtain a quantifiable score or measurement indicative of a participant's performance in a specified role.

For example, a baseball organization may include, but is not limited to, roles representative of an owner, a general manger, a manager, a player, a scout, marketing personnel, a beat writer, and an agent. Participants may wish to select a role that most suits their interests to compete against similar roles in other organizations within the league.

Each of the roles above may have different responsibilities and actions that can be taken. In addition, the performance calculations to measure performance of the participant in a specific role may be defined differently within the rules engine 535. The metrics (e.g., real world baseball event data and internal data metrics 540) applied to the rules may be different for each role. The metrics may also overlap for certain roles. For instance, the won-loss record of the team may be a performance metric for the owner role, the general manager role, and the manager role. In another example, a player's salary may be a performance metric for the role of general manager, player, and agent. A higher salary may reflect better on the player and agent roles and worse on the general manager role since one of the responsibilities of the general manager may be to negotiate player salaries. Certain types of data may simply not apply to certain roles. For instance, the gate receipts that come from attendance at games may only impact financial roles such as marketing personnel or owner and have no effect on the performance calculation for the manager of the team.

A team with a higher payroll may be expected to perform better and therefore may not receive as much credit for wins as a team with a significantly lower payroll. The dynamics of the rules present opportunities to explore multiple disparate strategies of assembling a successful organization. One organization may focus on performance vs. cost and eschew high priced talent in favor of younger cheaper players. Organizations may favor pitching, speed, defense, and hitting differently and attempt to construct a roster accordingly.

Each role may be assessed individually to be compared against the same role in other organizations within the league. The organizations, from the standpoint of the owner role, may be compared to one another to determine a champion as well. The organization champion does not necessarily need to be the team with the best won-loss record or the team that captured the championship. Other metrics like payroll, television ratings, Internet awareness, public favorability ratings, and the league ranking of the various roles within the organization, etc. may be factored along with team achievements to determine the best organization. For example, bonus points may be awarded for having the best player, manager, or general manager in the league. The rules engine 535 may include the rules that weight and factor the data metrics used to determine such performance.

FIG. 6A illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for a fantasy baseball game league home web page 600. The fantasy baseball game league home web page 600 may present information relevant to the fantasy organization and provide links to more detailed information regarding the fantasy league that may not be able to be presented all on the fantasy baseball game league home web page 600. In this embodiment, the fantasy baseball game league home web page 600 may be comprised of multiple sections. For instance, the fantasy baseball game league home web page 600 may include a sponsor banner 610 that includes a search engine box that accepts input for searches on the website. The fantasy baseball game league home web page 600 may also include a section for banner advertisements 615. The banner advertisements may be typical web advertisements that occupy a portion of the fantasy baseball game league home web page 600. The fantasy baseball game league home web page 600 may also include a fantasy game page header section 620. This section may identify the name of the organization. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The fantasy baseball game league home web page 600 may also include sections for role selection 625, league standings data 630, player/agent data 635, league news data 640, and trade/transaction data 645. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The role selection section 625 may present data pertaining to role selection functions. For example, in a fantasy baseball league, league wide roles may include owner, player, and agent. Each of these roles is tied to the league first before being tied to an organization. A group of owners represent their various organizations with respect to the league. Before a player can be drafted/traded/signed by an organization, that player must exist in a league database. An agent has no specific team allegiance at all. Rather, the agent may represent one or more players in contract negotiations with the various organizations (e.g., teams). Thus, these roles are first set up by the league through the fantasy baseball game league home web page 600. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The league standings data 630 may present data pertaining to the organizations that make up the league. The league standings data 630 may be presented as a ranked won-loss record of the various organizations. In addition, each organization may be presented as a hyperlink that, when executed, causes the user's computer device 115 to display than organization home page for the selected team. Thus, the league standings data 630 may serve as a portal to the various organization home pages.

The player/agent data 635 may present data pertaining to general manager functions and criteria. The player/agent data 635 may present information pertaining to players and agents within the window shown in FIG. 6A. The information may include hyperlinks to other web pages that also pertain to player/agent data 635. The player section may present links to a database of fantasy players available to the organizations. This information may include statistical and contract data for each player that may be used in player draft functions, etc. Each player may be shown along with the organization for which he plays or with a free agent tag to indicate availability. The player data may also include a link to the player's agent should the general manager of an organization wish to contact the agent regarding the player. The agent section may present data pertaining to the agents that represent the players in the league. Each agent may be presented as a hyperlink that when executed displays the roster of players that agent represents. Players may initiate contact with prospective agents and agents may initiate contact with prospective players. Rules can be written that require a player to be represented by an agent. Agent performance may be evaluated on numerous criteria including, but not limited to, number of clients, total value of client contracts, negotiating tactics, responsiveness to client communications, etc. The league news data 640 may present data pertaining to manager functions and criteria. The league news data 640 may include injury updates, articles written by beat writers, special interest stories, etc. The articles and data may include embedded hyperlinks that may take a user to other web pages for more detailed information. For instance, the league news data 640 may include current and archived hyperlinked article titles written by beat writers that, when executed, enhance that beat writer's performance by counting as a web view. The embodiments are not limited to these examples. The trade/transaction data 645 may present data pertaining to trades and other transaction conducted among the organizations within the league. Trades may include player trades between or among organizations. Other transactions may include free agent signings. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

It should be noted that the size, shape, arrangement, content and overall presentation of the fantasy baseball game league home web page 600 in FIG. 6 may be altered or amended to suit a particular need or design. In addition, the size, shape, arrangement, content and overall presentation of the fantasy baseball game league home web page 600 in FIG. 6 may be altered or amended based on a user's role/status/affiliation/etc. As such, the fantasy game page 600 is exemplary and not intended to be limiting of this disclosure. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

FIG. 6B illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image indicative of a role selection page 650 for selecting a role within a universal fantasy baseball game league. The role selection page 650 may appear as the result of selecting a link or icon from the role selection section 625 shown in FIG. 6A. The roles 652 initiated under the league homepage may include owner, player, and agent. In this example, a user has selected to create a “player” role as indicated by the black dot in the selection circle next to the player label. The user may then click/execute a select icon/button 654 to advance to the next phase of creating a player. The embodiments are not necessarily limited to the roles illustrated.

FIG. 6C illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image indicative of a player attribute page 660 for selecting profile attributes for a fantasy player within a fantasy baseball league. The player attribute page 660 includes attributes that identify the type of player to be created. A user may select from among the various positions 662 a player may play. The user may then identify other desired batting attributes 664 such as, for instance, whether they bat right or left handed (or both), whether they hit for average or power, and whether they are fast. The last player attribute identifies whether the player throws 667 right or left handed. In this example, the user has opted to be an outfielder that bats and throws left-handed and hits more for both average and power as indicated by the black dots in the selection circles. The user may then click/execute the select icon/button 668 to get to a real world player data page 670. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

FIG. 6D illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image indicative of real world player data 670 for selecting attributes of real world players for a player within a league. The real world player data page 670 may present a list of players that match or come closest to matching the desired attributes input on the previous player attribute page 660. Each player may be presented along with data pertaining to career statistics (normalized to per season averages) for various categories. The idea is that a user may build a fantasy player based on a composite of real world players. Thus, the user may build a fantasy player that may be based on the real world metric data of multiple real world players. In this example, the user has selected the batting average and on base percentage (OBP) attributes of Mike Trout, the home run (HR) and runs batted in (RBI), and slugging percentage attributes of Josh Hamilton, and the runs, strikeout (K), and walk (BB) attributes of Shane Victorino. The user may give the fantasy player his own unique fantasy name. The newly named fantasy player may then be judged performance-wise by obtaining the real world data of the real world players upon which the fantasy player is based. Comparable substitution real world player attributes may be identified in case of injury to one of the real world players that form part of the composite fantasy player.

There may be many strategies to composing a fantasy player. One obvious strategy may be to select the best attributes of the best players to create a kind of super player. This may not be the best strategy as not every team may be able to afford the salary of such a player on its team. League rules may, for example, impose a salary cap on organizations with respect to how much they can spend on players. Moreover, player performance may also be partially judged in light of the player's salary. The higher the salary, the greater the expectations. Thus, a home run hit by a fantasy player linked with the real world home run output of say Albert Pujols may be worth less than a home run hit by a fantasy player linked with the real world home run output of say Angel Pagan. The scoring and weighting of real world event data may be processed by the baseball rules engine 535 and baseball performance calculator engine 545.

Some users may wish to evaluate real world players to try to predict which ones will outperform their historical norms. If this can be done successfully, the user may build a fantasy player that would not command so high a salary but has the potential to significantly outperform the historical norm expected of the composite fantasy player leading to greater points per dollar salary. Owners and General Managers, for instance, may have as a performance metric points per dollar salary such that cheaper players that are outperforming historical norms would be judged better than more expensive players that are under-performing their historical norms even if the raw statistical data favors the more expensive player. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

FIG. 7A illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image for a fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700. The fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may present information relevant to the fantasy organization and provide links to more detailed information regarding the fantasy organization that may not be able to be presented all on the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700. In this embodiment, the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may be comprised of multiple sections. For instance, the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may include a sponsor banner 710 that includes a search engine box that accepts input for searches on the website. The fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may also include a section for banner advertisements 715. The banner advertisements may be typical web advertisements that occupy a portion of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700. The fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may also include a fantasy game page header section 720. This section may identify the name of the organization. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may also include sections for role selection 722, owner data 724, general manager data 726, manager data 728, player data 730, scout data 732, marketing data 734, and beat writer data 736. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The role selection section 722 may present data pertaining to role selection functions. For example, there may be data and or hyperlinks to sections that provide information on roles and getting started with role selection within the organization. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The owner section 724 may present data pertaining to owner functions and criteria. For example, this section of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may present data and hyperlinks pertaining to the team's record, financial data, and a likeability score. Each of these criteria may be metrics upon which the owner is assessed against other owners. The baseball rules engine 535 and the baseball performance calculator engine 545 may factor and weight the metrics data to determine individual and overall scores for the owner. There may be hyperlinks to take the user to other pages having greater detail on a particular topic. In addition, some of the pages may be restricted to only the owner himself, the owner and other owners, or everyone. The access may depend on the need to know of a particular role which may be defined by the baseball rules engine 535. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The general manager section 726 may present data pertaining to general manager functions and criteria. For example, this section of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may present data and hyperlinks pertaining to contract negotiation status, trade offers, etc. Each of these criteria may be metrics upon which the general manager is assessed against other general managers. The baseball rules engine 535 and the baseball performance calculator engine 545 may factor and weight the metrics data to determine individual and overall scores for the general manager. There may be hyperlinks to take the user to other pages having greater detail on a particular topic. In addition, some of the pages may be restricted to only the general manager himself, the general manager and other general managers, the general manager's owner, or everyone. The access may depend on the need to know of a particular role which may be defined by the baseball rules engine 535. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The manager section 728 may present data pertaining to manager functions and criteria. For example, this section of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may present data and hyperlinks pertaining to the manager's won-loss record, injury data, and a line-up card for the next game's line up. Each of these criteria may be metrics upon which the manager is assessed against other managers. The baseball rules engine 535 and the baseball performance calculator engine 545 may factor and weight the metrics data to determine individual and overall scores for the manager. There may be hyperlinks to take the user to other pages having greater detail on a particular topic. In addition, some of the pages may be restricted to only the manager himself, the manager and other managers, the general manager, the owner, or everyone. The access may depend on the need to know of a particular role which may be defined by the baseball rules engine 535. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The player section 730 may present data pertaining to player functions and criteria. For example, this section of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may present data and hyperlinks pertaining to the player's statistics and salary data. Each of these criteria may be metrics upon which the player is assessed against other players. The baseball rules engine 535 and the baseball performance calculator engine 545 may factor and weight the metrics data to determine individual and overall scores for the player. There may be hyperlinks to take the user to other pages having greater detail on a particular topic. In addition, some of the pages may be restricted to only the player himself, the player and other players, the manager, the general manager, the owner, or everyone. The access may depend on the need to know of a particular role which may be defined by the baseball rules engine 535. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The scout section 732 may present data pertaining to scout functions and criteria. For example, this section of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may present data and hyperlinks pertaining to player evaluations, and player recommendations. Moreover, each scout may submit a ranking of players and the scout whose rankings correspond closest to actual player performance may be assessed more favorably. Each of these criteria may be metrics upon which the scout is assessed against other scouts. The baseball rules engine 535 and the baseball performance calculator engine 545 may factor and weight the metrics data to determine individual and overall scores for the scout. There may be hyperlinks to take the user to other pages having greater detail on a particular topic. In addition, some of the pages may be restricted to only the scout himself, the scout and other scouts, the manager, the general manager, the owner, or everyone. The access may depend on the need to know of a particular role which may be defined by the baseball rules engine 535. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The marketing section 734 may present data pertaining to marketing functions and criteria. For example, this section of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may present data and hyperlinks pertaining to television ratings, radio ratings, advertisement contracts, licensing revenues, and merchandise sales. Each of these criteria may be metrics upon which a marketing role is assessed against other marketing roles from other organizations. Other metrics may include system page views and/or new user signups resulting from the participant's promotional efforts for the organization and the fantasy baseball league itself. The baseball rules engine 535 and the baseball performance calculator engine 545 may factor and weight the metrics data to determine individual and overall scores for the marketing role. There may be hyperlinks to take the user to other pages having greater detail on a particular topic. In addition, some of the pages may be restricted to only the marketer himself, the marketer and other marketers, the owner, or everyone. The access may depend on the need to know of a particular role which may be defined by the baseball rules engine 535. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

The beat writer section 736 may present data pertaining to beat writer functions and criteria. For example, this section of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 may present data and hyperlinks pertaining to articles, blogs, web hits, and likes/followers on social media platforms such as Twitter™ and Facebook™. Each of these criteria may be metrics upon which the beat writer is assessed against other beat writers. The baseball rules engine 535 and the baseball performance calculator engine 545 may factor and weight the metrics data to determine individual and overall scores for the beat writer. There may be hyperlinks to take the user to other pages having greater detail on a particular topic. In addition, some of the pages may be restricted to only the beat writer himself, the beat writer and other beat writers, or everyone. The access may depend on the need to know of a particular role which may be defined by the baseball rules engine 535. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

It should be noted that the size, shape, arrangement, content and overall presentation of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 in FIG. 7 may be altered or amended to suit a particular need or design. In addition, the size, shape, arrangement, content and overall presentation of the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 in FIG. 7 may be altered or amended based on a user's role/status/affiliation/etc. As such, the fantasy game page 700 is exemplary and not intended to be limiting of this disclosure. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

FIG. 7B illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image indicative of a role selection page 740 for selecting a role within an organization. The role selection page 740 may appear as the result of selecting a link or icon from the role selection section 722 shown in FIG. 7A. The roles 742 initiated under the organization homepage may include general manager, manager, player, scout, marketing, and beat writer/blogger. In this example, a user in the role of a general manager has selected to obtain a “player” as indicated by the black dot in the selection circle next to the player label. Roles having shaded out dots in the selection circles may indicate that the role has already been filled within the organization. The general manager may then click/execute a select icon/button 744 to advance to the next phase of obtaining a player. In some cases, role selection within an organization may equate to an application or ‘try-out’ for a role within the organization as opposed to immediate assignment. The embodiments are not necessarily limited to the roles illustrated.

FIG. 7C illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image indicative of a player attribute page 750 for searching fantasy player profiles for a player role within an organization. The player attribute page 750 includes attributes that identify the type of player to be created. A general manager may select from among the various positions 752 a player may play. The general manager may then identify other desired batting attributes 754 such as, for instance, whether they bat right or left handed (or both), whether they hit for average or power, and whether they are fast. The last player attribute identifies whether the player throws 756 right or left handed. In this example, the general manager is seeking an outfielder that bats and throws left-handed and hits for both average and power as indicated by the black dots in the selection circles. The general manager may then click/execute the select icon/button 758 to get to a fantasy player selection page 760. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

FIG. 7D illustrates an embodiment of a computer screen image indicative of a fantasy player selection page 760 for selecting a fantasy player based on attributes of real world players. The player selection page 760 may present a list of fantasy players that match or come closest to matching the desired attributes input on the previous fantasy player attribute page 750. Each composite fantasy player may be presented along with data pertaining to career statistics (normalized to per season averages) for various categories. The career statistics may be a composite of the statistics derived from real world players. Moreover, the statistics may include year by year breakdowns (not shown) including statistics for the current year if the season is already underway. Each fantasy player may be judged performance-wise by obtaining the real world composite data of the real world players upon which the composite fantasy player is based. Comparable substitution real world player attributes may be identified in case of injury to one of the real world players that form part of the composite fantasy player.

When a general manager selects one of the composite fantasy players via the select button 768, a pop-up or new screen may appear that identifies the agent and/or team of that player. If the player is currently a free agent, the general manager may contact the agent to begin negotiations to play for the organization. If the player is on the roster of another organization, the general manager may contact that organization's general manager to attempt to negotiate a trade. The embodiments are not limited to these examples.

FIGS. 5-7C have been described with reference to a sports league universal game framework, specifically a fantasy baseball game/league. It should be understood that this is merely an exemplary embodiment and is not considered limiting in any way. Other sports such as football, basketball, hockey, etc. may also be implemented in a manner similar to that previously described. In addition, the universal fantasy game framework is not limited to just sports leagues. The concept may be extended to other reality based competitive environments including, but not limited to, financial markets, the entertainment industry (e.g., television, radio, music, movies, etc.), corporate training and education exercises, and more.

Included herein is a set of flow charts representative of exemplary methodologies for performing novel aspects of the disclosed architecture. While, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the one or more methodologies shown herein, for example, in the form of a flow chart or flow diagram, are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance therewith, occur in a different order and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram. Moreover, not all acts illustrated in a methodology may be required for a novel implementation. In addition, various activities described with respect to the logic flows can be executed in serial or parallel fashion. The logic flows may be implemented using one or more hardware elements and/or software elements of the described embodiments or alternative elements as desired for a given set of design and performance constraints. For example, the logic flows may be implemented as logic (e.g., computer program instructions) for execution by a logic device (e.g., a general-purpose or specific-purpose computer).

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow 800. The logic flow 800 may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments described herein, such as the fantasy sports system 100, for example.

In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 8, the logic flow 800 may select a role within a fantasy league/game application at block 805. For example, in a fantasy baseball league application, a user may access the fantasy baseball game league home web page 600 and execute one of the functions within the role selection section 625. This may cause the baseball framework application 530 to present the role selection page 650 for the league to present one or more roles available for selection under the league rules as embodied in the baseball rules engine 535. The user may then select one of the available roles presented. Similarly, a user may access the fantasy baseball game organization home web page 700 and execute one of the functions within the role selection section 722. This may cause the baseball framework application 530 to present the role selection page 740 for the organization to present one or more roles available for selection. The user may then select one of the available roles presented. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The logic flow 800 may set up role attributes at block 810. For example, the user may define characteristics of the role to minor real world actors/players. In sports leagues, role attributes may include combining composite statistics from numerous real world players into a single fantasy player. In a financial markets application, the role attributes of a stock broker may be defined to include a limit on the number of trades that can be made in a certain time period. In a corporate training exercise application, the role attributes of a specific employee such as a sales representative may define a range of pricing to which the sales representative must adhere when negotiating. The chain of command of the sales representative may also be defined in the role attributes. Thus, the rules that define the play of the fantasy game also encompass rules that may define attributes of various roles within the fantasy game. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The logic flow 800 may make decisions and/or enter input for a role at block 815. For example, the users associated with roles within a fantasy game may make decisions based on real world events and data. In a financial markets fantasy game, a stock broker may recommend a stock to buy or sell based on a news reports. An investor in the same financial markets fantasy game may decide to purchase or sell a stock based on a broker's recommendation. These are decisions made by the fantasy game player in the role they have chosen. These decisions may then be subject to further processing at block 820. The processing of the input for a role occurring at block 820 may include judging the performance of the role based on the most recent input. The processing may further be described with respect to FIG. 9. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The logic flow 800 may output results at block 825. For example, the data input and processed by the rules engine 135 and performance calculator engine 145 may yield results for one or more roles. The roles may be dependent on the input data as a data metric used to calculate one or more aspects of role performance. The results may then be output to be consumed by the participants of the fantasy game application. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The logic flow 800 may update performance standings at block 830. For example, the results output in block 825 may impact the competition among fantasy game participants. In the sports league fantasy baseball game application, the performance of a composite fantasy player for a period of time may be evaluated. If that composite fantasy player performed very well during the period, the performance could lead to an increase in points for roles such as the fantasy player himself, the agent representing the fantasy player, the general manager that signed or traded for the fantasy player, etc. The increase in points may be reflected in current standings ranking the fantasy game participants for the various roles. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The logic flow 800 may monitor real world events and user actions for additional input at block 835. For example, the framework application 130 may continue to monitor real world event data 120 to be applied to the rules engine 135 and performance calculator 145. Similarly, the framework application 130 may continue to monitor user actions within the fantasy game to be applied to the rules engine 135 and performance calculator 145. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment of a logic flow 900. The logic flow 900 may be representative of some or all of the operations executed by one or more embodiments pertaining to processing real world event data and user actions within the fantasy game, for example.

In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the logic flow 900 may receive the real world event input data and/or user action input at block 905. For example, the real world event input data and/or user action input may come from block 815 and may arrive at periodic intervals or when a particular event or action takes place. The input and user action are received and processed by the rules engine 135. In a sports league application, statistical data for real world players may be uploaded all at once at a pre-determined time each day/evening. User actions, however, may be processed immediately especially if the data upon which they are based is subject to change over time such as, for instance, the decision to execute a stock trade at a certain price. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The logic flow 900 may determine the applicable roles and participants to which input data and user actions apply at block 910. For example, the input and user action received by the rules engine 135 which may first determine which roles and participants are affected by the input and user actions. Not every role or participant within a fantasy game is necessarily affected by every piece of input data and every user action. In the sports league fantasy baseball game application, user interaction of a player accepting the terms of a contract offer from the general manager of an organization does not necessarily affect the role of beat writer. In addition, the same interaction does not affect the performance of other composite fantasy players or other general managers. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

The logic flow 900 may apply the input data and user action to the appropriate roles and participants at block 915. For example, the rules engine 135 applies data and user actions to the appropriate rules for the appropriate roles and participants. The logic flow 900 may then calculate the performance for each role and participant at block 920. For example, the performance calculator engine 145 evaluates the real world event input data and user actions in light of the rules in the rules engine 135 to determine a core, ranking, or incremental points tabulation that affects the fantasy game participants and roles to which the real world event input data applies. The results of the performance calculator engine 145 may then be returned to the fantasy game universe framework server 110 to be output as described in block 825 of FIG. 8. The embodiments are not limited to this example.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of an exemplary computing architecture 1000 suitable for implementing various embodiments of the fantasy game system 100 and methods as previously described. In particular, the computing architecture 1000 may be used by a fantasy game participant and/or the fantasy game universe framework server 110 and/or a portion thereof. The computing architecture 1000 includes various common computing elements, such as one or more processors, co-processors, memory units, chipsets, controllers, peripherals, interfaces, oscillators, timing devices, video cards, audio cards, multimedia input/output (I/O) components, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation by the computing architecture 1000.

As shown in FIG. 10, the computing architecture 1000 comprises a processing unit 1004, a system memory 1006 and a system bus 1008. The processing unit 1004 can be any of various commercially available processors. Dual microprocessors and other multi-processor architectures may also be employed as the processing unit 1004. The system bus 1008 provides an interface for system components including, but not limited to, the system memory 1006 to the processing unit 1004. The system bus 1008 can be any of several types of bus structure that may further interconnect to a memory bus (with or without a memory controller), a peripheral bus, and a local bus using any of a variety of commercially available bus architectures.

The system memory 1006 may include various types of memory units to store information in system 10 and may be, for example, read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), Double-Data-Rate DRAM (DDRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory, polymer memory such as ferroelectric polymer memory, ovonic memory, phase change or ferroelectric memory, silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon (SONOS) memory, magnetic or optical cards, or any other type of media suitable for storing information. In the illustrated embodiment shown in FIG. 10, the system memory 1006 can include non-volatile memory 1010 and/or volatile memory 1012. A basic input/output system (BIOS) can be stored in the non-volatile memory 1010.

The computer 1002 may include various types of computer-readable storage media, including an internal hard disk drive (HDD) 1014, a magnetic floppy disk drive (FDD) 1016 to read from or write to a removable magnetic disk 1018, and an optical disk drive 1020 to read from or write to a removable optical disk 1022 (e.g., a CD-ROM or DVD). The HDD 1014, FDD 1016 and optical disk drive 1020 can be connected to the system bus 1008 by a HDD interface 1024, an FDD interface 1026 and an optical drive interface 1028, respectively. The HDD interface 1024 for external drive implementations can include at least one or both of Universal Serial Bus (USB) and IEEE 1394 interface technologies.

The drives and associated computer-readable media provide volatile and/or nonvolatile storage of data, data structures, computer-executable instructions, and so forth. For example, a number of program modules can be stored in the drives and memory units 1010, 1012, including an operating system 1030, one or more application programs 1032, other program modules 1034, and program data 1036 applicable to the fantasy system 100. The one or more application programs 1032, other program modules 1034, and program data 1036 can include, for example, the fantasy game system 100, the systems used by fantasy game participants and/or the fantasy game universe framework server 110.

A fantasy game participant can enter commands and information into the computer 1002 through one or more wire/wireless input devices, for example, a keyboard 1038 and a pointing device, such as a mouse 1040. Other input devices may include a microphone, an infra-red (IR) remote control, a joystick, a game pad, a stylus pen, touch screen, or the like. These and other input devices are often connected to the processing unit 1004 through an input device interface 1042 that is coupled to the system bus 1008, but can be connected by other interfaces such as a parallel port, IEEE 1394 serial port, a game port, a USB port, an IR interface, and so forth.

A monitor 1044 or other type of display device is also connected to the system bus 1008 via an interface, such as a video adaptor 1046 and can be used to display data. In addition to the monitor 1044, a computer typically includes other peripheral output devices, such as speakers, printers, and so forth.

The computer 1002 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections via wire and/or wireless communications to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 1048. The remote computer 1048 can be a workstation, a server computer, a router, a personal computer, portable computer, microprocessor-based entertainment appliance, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to the computer 1002, although, for purposes of brevity, only a memory/storage device 1050 is illustrated. The logical connections depicted include wire/wireless connectivity to a local area network (LAN) 1052 and/or larger networks, for example, a wide area network (WAN) 1054. Such LAN and WAN networking environments are commonplace in offices and companies, and facilitate enterprise-wide computer networks, such as intranets, all of which may connect to a global communications network, for example, the Internet.

When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 1002 is connected to the LAN 1052 through a wire and/or wireless communication network interface or adaptor 1056. The adaptor 1056 can facilitate wire and/or wireless communications to the LAN 1052, which may also include a wireless access point disposed thereon for communicating with the wireless functionality of the adaptor 1056.

When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 502 can include a modem 1058, or is connected to a communications server on the WAN 1054, or has other means for establishing communications over the WAN 1054, such as by way of the Internet. The modem 1058, which can be internal or external and a wire and/or wireless device, connects to the system bus 1008 via the input device interface 1042. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 1002, or portions thereof, can be stored in the remote memory/storage device 1050. It will be appreciated that the network connections shown are exemplary and other means of establishing a communications link between the computers can be used.

The computer 1002 is operable to communicate with wire and wireless devices or entities using the IEEE 802 family of standards, such as wireless devices operatively disposed in wireless communication (e.g., IEEE 802.11 over-the-air modulation techniques) with, for example, a printer, scanner, desktop and/or portable computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), communications satellite, any piece of equipment or location associated with a wirelessly detectable tag (e.g., a kiosk, news stand, restroom), and telephone. This includes at least Wi-Fi (or Wireless Fidelity), WiMax, and Bluetooth™ wireless technologies. Thus, the communication can be a predefined structure as with a conventional network or simply an ad hoc communication between at least two devices. Wi-Fi networks use radio technologies called IEEE 802.11x (a, b, g, etc.) to provide secure, reliable, fast wireless connectivity. A Wi-Fi network can be used to connect computers to each other, to the Internet, and to wire networks (which use IEEE 802.3-related media and functions).

FIG. 11 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary communications architecture 1100 suitable for implementing various embodiments of fantasy game system 100 and associated methods as previously described. The communications architecture 1100 includes various common communications elements, such as a transmitter, receiver, transceiver, radio, network interface, baseband processor, antenna, amplifiers, filters, and so forth. The embodiments, however, are not limited to implementation by the communications architecture 800.

As shown in FIG. 11, the communications architecture 1100 comprises one or more clients 1102 and servers 1104. The clients 1102 may implement the systems used by the fantasy game participants. The servers 1104 may implement the fantasy game universe framework server 110. The clients 1102 and the servers 1104 are operatively connected to one or more respective client data stores 1108 and server data stores 1110 that can be employed to store information local to the respective clients 1102 and servers 1104, such as cookies and/or associated contextual information.

The clients 1102 and the servers 1104 may communicate information between each other using a communication framework 1106. The communications framework 1106 may implement any well-known communications techniques, such as techniques suitable for use with packet-switched networks (e.g., public networks such as the Internet, private networks such as an enterprise intranet, and so forth), circuit-switched networks (e.g., the public switched telephone network), or a combination of packet-switched networks and circuit-switched networks (with suitable gateways and translators). The clients 1102 and the servers 1104 may include various types of standard communication elements designed to be interoperable with the communications framework 1106, such as one or more communications interfaces, network interfaces, network interface cards (NIC), radios, wireless transmitters/receivers (transceivers), wired and/or wireless communication media, physical connectors, and so forth. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired communications media and wireless communications media. Examples of wired communications media may include a wire, cable, metal leads, printed circuit boards (PCB), backplanes, switch fabrics, semiconductor material, twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber optics, a propagated signal, and so forth. Examples of wireless communications media may include acoustic, radio-frequency (RF) spectrum, infrared and other wireless media. One possible communication between a client 1102 and a server 1104 can be in the form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computer processes. The data packet may include a cookie and/or associated contextual information, for example.

Various embodiments may be implemented using hardware elements, software elements, or a combination of both. Examples of hardware elements may include devices, components, processors, microprocessors, circuits, circuit elements (e.g., transistors, resistors, capacitors, inductors, and so forth), integrated circuits, application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), programmable logic devices (PLD), digital signal processors (DSP), field programmable gate array (FPGA), memory units, logic gates, registers, semiconductor device, chips, microchips, chip sets, and so forth. Examples of software elements may include software components, programs, applications, computer programs, application programs, system programs, machine programs, operating system software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof. Determining whether an embodiment is implemented using hardware elements and/or software elements may vary in accordance with any number of factors, such as desired computational rate, power levels, heat tolerances, processing cycle budget, input data rates, output data rates, memory resources, data bus speeds and other design or performance constraints, as desired for a given implementation.

Some embodiments of the fantasy game system 100 and associated methods may comprise an article of manufacture. An article of manufacture may comprise a storage medium to store logic. Examples of a storage medium may include one or more types of non-transitory computer-readable storage media capable of storing electronic data, including volatile memory or non-volatile memory, removable or non-removable memory, erasable or non-erasable memory, writeable or re-writeable memory, and so forth. Examples of the logic may include various software elements, such as software components, programs, applications, computer programs, application programs, system programs, machine programs, operating system software, middleware, firmware, software modules, routines, subroutines, functions, methods, procedures, software interfaces, application program interfaces (API), instruction sets, computing code, computer code, code segments, computer code segments, words, values, symbols, or any combination thereof. In one embodiment, for example, an article of manufacture may store executable computer program instructions that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform methods and/or operations in accordance with the described embodiments. The executable computer program instructions may include any suitable type of code, such as source code, compiled code, interpreted code, executable code, static code, dynamic code, and the like. The executable computer program instructions may be implemented according to a predefined computer language, manner or syntax, for instructing a computer to perform a certain function. The instructions may be implemented using any suitable high-level, low-level, object-oriented, visual, compiled and/or interpreted programming language.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” along with their derivatives. These terms mean that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and “connected” along with their derivatives. These terms are not necessarily intended as synonyms for each other. For example, some embodiments may be described using the terms “connected” and/or “coupled” to indicate that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other. The term “coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

It is emphasized that the Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. Section 1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. In the appended claims, the terms “including” and “in which” are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms “comprising” and “wherein,” respectively. Moreover, the terms “first,” “second,” “third,” and so forth, are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific to structural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the subject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims. 

1. A computer-implement fantasy game method comprising: defining multiple roles within a fantasy game application; defining one or more rules for each of the roles, the rules to govern how a role is scored within the fantasy game application; obtaining real world event data relevant to one or more of the roles; determining to which roles the real world event data applies; applying the real world event data to the rules for the applicable roles; and calculating a performance score for the applicable roles based on the real world event data.
 2. The computer-implemented fantasy game method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving user input for one or more of the roles; determining to which roles the user input applies; applying the user input to the rules for the applicable roles; and calculating a performance score for the applicable roles based on the user input.
 3. The computer-implemented fantasy game method of claim 2 further comprising providing the results of the performance score to a participant of the fantasy game application.
 4. The computer-implemented fantasy game method of claim 3, the providing the results of the performance score to a participant of the fantasy game application further comprising displaying the results on a web page accessible to participants of the fantasy game application.
 5. The computer-implemented fantasy game method of claim 2, the user input for one or more of the roles comprising a decision based on interaction with a fantasy game participant in the same role within the fantasy game application.
 6. The computer-implemented fantasy game method of claim 2, the user input for one or more of the roles comprising a decision based on interaction with a fantasy game participant in a different role within the fantasy game application.
 7. The computer-implemented fantasy game method of claim 1, the fantasy game application based on a sports league.
 8. The computer-implemented fantasy game method of claim 1, the fantasy game application based on one or more financial markets.
 9. The computer-implemented fantasy game method of claim 1, the fantasy game application comprising a corporate training exercise based on real world event data involving a corporation.
 10. The computer-implemented fantasy game method of claim 1, wherein a role may be comprised of a composite of data from multiple real world figures.
 11. An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory storage medium containing instructions that when executed enable a system to: define multiple roles within a fantasy game application; define one or more rules for each of the roles, the rules to govern how a role is scored within the fantasy game application; obtain real world event data relevant to one or more of the roles; determine to which roles the real world event data applies; apply the real world event data to the rules for the applicable roles; and calculate a performance score for the applicable roles based on the real world event data.
 12. The article of claim 11, further comprising instructions that when executed enable the system to: receive user input for one or more of the roles; determine to which roles the user input applies; apply the user input to the rules for the applicable roles; and calculate a performance score for the applicable roles based on the user input.
 13. The article of claim 12, further comprising instructions that when executed enable the system to provide the results of the performance score to a participant of the fantasy game application.
 14. The article of claim 13, further comprising instructions that when executed enable the system to display the results on a web page accessible to participants of the fantasy game application.
 15. The article of claim 12, the user input for one or more of the roles comprising a decision based on interaction with a fantasy game participant in the same role within the fantasy game application.
 16. The article of claim 12, the user input for one or more of the roles comprising a decision based on interaction with a fantasy game participant in a different role within the fantasy game application.
 17. The article of claim 11, the fantasy game application based on a sports league.
 18. The article of claim 11, the fantasy game application based on one or more financial markets.
 19. The article of claim 11, the fantasy game application comprising a corporate training exercise based on real world event data involving a corporation.
 20. The article of claim 11, wherein a role may be comprised of a composite of data from multiple real world figures.
 21. An apparatus, comprising: a server comprised of a processor circuit and a memory communicatively coupled to the processor circuit, the memory to store a fantasy game framework for execution by the processor circuit, the fantasy game framework comprising: a fantasy game web site operative to accept user input and provide a user interface for a fantasy game; a rules engine operative to define multiple roles within a fantasy game application, define one or more rules for each of the roles, the rules to govern how a role is scored within the fantasy game application, and apply real world event data to the rules for the roles; and a performance calculator engine operative to calculate a performance score for the roles based on the real world event data.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, the rules engine further operative to: receive user input for one or more of the roles; determine to which roles the user input applies; apply the user input to the rules for the applicable roles; and calculate a performance score for the applicable roles based on the user input.
 23. The apparatus of claim 22, the fantasy game web site further operative to provide the results of the performance score to a participant of the fantasy game.
 24. The apparatus of claim 22, the user input for one or more of the roles comprising a decision based on interaction with a fantasy game participant in the same role within the fantasy game application.
 25. The apparatus of claim 22, the user input for one or more of the roles comprising a decision based on interaction with a fantasy game participant in a different role within the fantasy game application.
 26. The apparatus of claim 21, the fantasy game based on a sports league.
 27. The apparatus of claim 21, the fantasy game based on one or more financial markets.
 28. The apparatus of claim 21, the fantasy game comprising a corporate training exercise based on real world event data involving a corporation.
 29. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein a role may be comprised of a composite of data from multiple real world figures. 